Fabrisonic SonicLayer 400

Fabrisonic’s UAM technology boasts high productivity. The SonicLayer 400 has a bed of 24” x 36”.

Metal 3D printing specialist, Fabrisonic has been granted a patent for a system to co-locate both the additive and subtractive elements of its Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) equipment.

The patent covers enhancements to the Fabrisonic hybrid metal 3D printers, where the UAM weld head becomes a tool in the CAT 50 tool changer of a standard CNC mill.

Fabrisonic developed the UAM technology along with Dave Bartholomew and Charles Sidlosky from Ultra Tech Machinery. The metal additive manufacturing company sees this latest patent issue as validation of itself as a leader in the field.

“By co-locating the welding and milling functions, accuracy can be improved and overall build volume can be increased without increasing machine footprint,” said Fabrisonic CEO Mark Norfolk. “Our patents now count ten, which adds confirmation to Fabrisonic’s leadership in developing metal 3D printers.”

UAM is a revolutionary process technology that uses sound to merge layers of metal drawn from featureless foil stock. Producing true metallurgic bonds with full density, and working with a variety of metals, the newly-patented technology has three unique capabilities.

Firstly, its solid-state nature brings several key advantages. Accomplished at very low temperature, the ultrasonic welding technology protects material properties of the incoming feedstock. Since the materials are only heated slightly, the materials do not experience changes in grain size, precipitation reactions, nor phase changes. It also bonds dissimilar metals without creating brittle inter-metallic seen in fusion based welding – this enables Fabrisonic to print custom materials to design a material with a given material property. The third key advantage is the ability to embed electronics in solid metal parts. The low temperature bond allows delicate components, such as microprocessors and sensors, to be embedded in solid metal without overheating.

Its second unique capability is its hybrid additive/ subtractive system. Fabrisonic’s production machine starts out as a commercial 3 Axis CNC mill, before the patented welding head for additive manufacturing is added to the base mill. The additive head is used to add material to produce a part that is near net shape, while the mill can be used to CNC machine final true shape.

The final unique capability Fabrisonic’s UAM technology boasts is its high productivity. Fabrisonic’s line of SonicLayer machines print from fifteen to thirty cubic inches per hour, which allows for much larger build volumes. The SonicLayer 400 has a bed of 24” x 36” while the SonicLayer 7200 can accommodate parts 6ft x 6ft x 3ft.

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